Object narratives as a methodology for mitigating marine plastic pollution: multidisciplinary investigations in Galápagos

Abstract

Marine plastic pollution is a global environmental concern. With reference to approaches in contemporary archaeology, object biographies and psychology, this article presents the application of a novel participatory ('World Café') methodology that aims both to understand how marine plastic pollution occurs and to demonstrate the value of the approach for encouraging behaviour change. As proof of concept, the authors present the preliminary results of fieldwork involving local people in the Galápagos archipelago to demonstrate the benefits of an archaeological approach in developing new frameworks to help mitigate this critical environmental threat.

Plastic contamination of the Galapagos marine food web and the relative risks to native species

“…Together, Ecuador and Peru generated an estimated 304,000 tonnes of mismanaged coastal plastic waste in 2010, projected to increase to 558,000 tonnes by 2025 15 . Models suggest that only a small amount of plastic is entering Galapagos from known industrial shing grounds but this does not reconcile with unpublished coastal clean-up data or archaeological analysis of macroplastic items that suggest maritime sources are likely a signi cant contributor 14,16 .…”

The Improvement of Learners’ Proficiency in English Second Language Through Remedial Work

“…"Johnson and Christensen" [23] emphasize that qualitative interviews can be used to obtain in-depth information about a participant's thoughts, beliefs, knowledge, reasoning, motivations, and feelings about a topic. "Saez" [56] mentions that in semistructured interviews, the entire process is improvised and conversational, while key points and answers are recorded on a form designed to evaluate and sort answers. This gives the person being interviewed a chance to give a lot of good information while making the entire process seem more like a normal conversation than a question session.…”

‘COVID waste’ and social media as method: an archaeology of personal protective equipment and its contribution to policy

“…From the present authors' viewpoints of archaeology, marine biology, and politics and policy, we suggest that the material focus of archaeology offers a unique perspective on marine pollution that can help mitigate this problem, highlight the impact of behavioural change and thus effectively slow the leakage of plastic into the environment. Our suggestion builds on another recent archaeological intervention in Galápagos (Schofield et al 2020). By working with local communities in the World-Heritage-listed archipelago, a collection of objects retrieved from local beaches was used to construct object biographies, a process that demonstrated to project participants how human behaviours are invariably the cause of the pollution, and how easily those behaviours can be changed.…”

“…Our suggestion builds on another recent archaeological intervention in Galápagos (Schofield et al . 2020). By working with local communities in the World-Heritage-listed archipelago, a collection of objects retrieved from local beaches was used to construct object biographies, a process that demonstrated to project participants how human behaviours are invariably the cause of the pollution, and how easily those behaviours can be changed.…”